Brian Kelleher didn’t make any new fans in Brazil at UFC 212.
Following his stunning submission victory over Iuri Alcantara, Kelleher went off on the crowd in Rio de Janeiro. He repeated the phrase “uh vai morrer” and told the crowd to quiet down. This angered fans and the boos rained down.
Kelleher had some extra security surrounding him on his way to the back. Speaking to the media after his bout, Kelleher describe the scene after his post-fight interview:
“It was intense. I kind of got carried away in the post-fight interview because they were yelling at me. I had my adrenaline up, so I fired back. It was just all fun, but I guess they took it serious. They were throwing beer cans at me on the way out, so they had to rush me out. But I’m good. Everything is fine.”
As far as his performance goes, Kelleher said he hopes it leads him to higher ranked opposition.
“I believed I belonged here a while ago, but I took some losses early in my career, and I bounced back, and I hit a mental switch, and I said, ‘That’s it. No more losing. I got to take this to the top.’ When I came here, I was motivated by the fact that Iuri was No. 13 in the world, and I want to put myself in a spot to fight a top-10 guy right away. I’m 30 years old. I want to fight the best guys right now.”
